Objects that are shipped, delivered, sent, or otherwise exchanged from one geographic location to another geographic location need to be protected from damage, theft, etc. Particularly, objects of high value or importance need to be protected from theft during the time that the high value objects travel from one geographic location to another. Objects may include packages, containers, documents, people (e.g., children on a field trip that may be separated from their group of classmates), food sacks being delivered in a disaster relief effort, or any other item that may be sent/delivered in shipments or groups. In many cases, protecting a shipment of objects is difficult as it is not always possible to watch over the shipment. A group of objects may be unattended, resting on an airport tarmac, or waiting on a loading dock for a truck, for example.
Conventionally, a method used to protect shipments of objects involves the use of an radio frequency identification (RFID) harness (or other external technology that is capable of reading/identifying each object with an RFID tag in the shipment) that is strapped, placed, or otherwise secured at a fixed location (e.g., a doorway, vehicle opening, warehouse entrance, etc.) through which the shipment passes. The RFID harness includes several antennas attached to the harness, and the antennas are constantly scanning the surrounding area of the harness to search for RFID tags attached to each object in the shipment. Accordingly, when a package is removed from the group of objects that make up the shipment, the RFID harness does not pick up the removed object's RFID tag, and an alert may be issued to indicate that all the objects of the shipment did not pass through the RFID harness.
Alternatively, another method used to protect expensive and smaller consumer items (e.g., razor blades, makeup, etc.) involves placing the items on a “smart shelf” in the store in which the items are sold. In this case, when a consumer picks up one item to purchase, the smart shelf does not alert the store personnel. However, if a consumer attempts to remove several items from the shelf (or the entire inventory), then the smart shelf alerts the store personnel that a theft may be in progress.
The more information that investigators have about the theft of objects, the more likely the thieves are eventually discovered. Information sought by investigators include determining exactly how the shipment evaded detection of RFID harnesses or smart shelves, when and/or where the object was separated from the shipment or removed from a shelf, etc.